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Ministry"The Last Sucker"

(13th Planet/Megaforce 2007)

Uncle Al's back, kids, but apparently he will not be for much longer. On what is Ministry's eleventh, and said to be their final album, "The Last Sucker" completes Jourgensen's anti-George W. Bush administration trilogy of albums, which included "Houses of the Molé" (2004) and "Rio Grande Blood" (2006). A cranking and pounding epic that samples the men it mocks, Ministry's "The Last Sucker" is a paranoid but candid trip that offers some dark humor.

"Someone's watching/Someone's listening," Jourgensen gruffly warns on "Watch Yourself" as the clanging and twitching electronics of the song pound by. The track, interestingly, opens with the tale that "a famous middle-aged rock 'n' roller" felt he could not speak out against Bush due to possible ramifications. On "The Dick Song," Ministry reams Cheney ("he is the chosen one") with grinding heaviness. And just when you think you have Ministry all figured out, they go and throw in a tight cover of The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues." It is a move that changes things up and offers a surprisingly feel-good tone.

Sounding similar to Rob Zombie half the time, "The Last Sucker" never drags, quickly pushing things along with quick driving riffs. But with Bush on his way out, it seems mostly a novelty as they relive Cheney's shooting incident, George "The Decider" Bush and his privileged background. One has to wonder if it is really worth the time and effort that it took to make "The Last Sucker." But now that Jourgensen's going to have some free time, maybe Ministry can team up with The Daily Show for the 2008 elections.